Review: ‘Carved’ is a spooky B-movie romp

Horror thrives in exaggeration. Whether a heightened metaphor about grief or a good old-fashioned monster movie, the genre retools tricks of the imagination to transmit its deeply unsettling story. In the case of Justin Harding’s Carved, based on his 2018 short, the writer/director plants himself firmly in the latter. He breathes life into an oversized pumpkin, harboring an ungodly power, and creates a world where the orange squash wreaks havoc on a historic reenactment village. Its bloodlust knows no end, often using its thorny green tentacles to kill, slaughter, and maim its prey. The film makes great use of practical effects, mixed with appropriate doses of CGI, and while it doesn’t always stick, it’s a gloriously campy good time.

A director and playwright, Kira (Peyton Elizabeth Lee) dreams of moving to New York City one day. The bright lights, the bustling streets, the promise of superstardom—it all conspires to inspire and push her to even greater heights in her work. Since her parents died, she’s taken on the responsibility of raising her younger brother Trevor (Wyatt Lindner), so those big-city plans have been pushed to the back burner for the time being. Through performing onstage in a historical reenactment village, she at least gets the rush of performance art while honing her own theatrical output on the side.

When a stoner (Matthew Cardarople) harvests a giant pumpkin from the patch, little does he know that he’s unwittingly set free a diabolical creature that only has one thing on its mind: flesh. In true slasher fashion, the pumpkin wields its thorny vines as makeshift knives to slice and dice everything and everyone in its path. It tumbles through the shadows in between cottages, rounding up an impressive body count and leaving a trail of blood and guts behind. During a pumpkin carving event, the monstrous fruit—yes, the film corrects the common misconception that it’s a veggie—turns the tables and hacks up many of the other contestants. As the crowd scampers off to safety, the bloodthirsty pumpkin picks off the reenactment cast in increasingly grisly ways. There are beheadings, scalpings, and good old-fashioned stabbings… oh my!

Storylines entangle; secrets are exposed; and the stakes couldn’t be higher. With a ravaging pumpkin on the loose, it’s only a matter of time before it comes for Kira and her brother Trevor. And it’ll stop at nothing to tear the characters limb from limb and cause utter destruction in the neighboring town. Amid its bloody torment, it has also been nurturing baby pumpkins with the same hunger for flesh and bone. An army has been born out in the pumpkin patch, hinting at a much grander Little Shop of Horrors-like plan than the characters ever realized. World domination is the goal, with the extinction of humanity on the brink.

Carved is exactly what you might expect from its premise. It’s goofy, but there’s plenty of fun to be had and carnage candy to sink your teeth into. While Harding could have pushed even further with its campiness, it’s nonetheless a hoot and a half. The characters all have inner lives, and even though many of those threads are tenuous, there’s enough emotion and backstory to evoke empathy from the audience as things escalate and spiral out of control.

The cinematography (courtesy of DP Sevdije Kastrati) doesn’t quite evoke the haunting spirit of Halloween as Dark Harvest does (another pumpkin-king killer flick), but its crystal clear polish suites the story just enough to give it a boost. From the cast’s commitment to the work to buckets of blood, guts, and gore, Carved is best served on a frosty October night. Alongside other spooky treats, such as Cobweb, it makes for a guaranteed good time and a reliable entry in the Halloween-set catalog.

Carved hits Hulu on October 21.

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